General Hospital - NEWS ROOM

In our 'General Hospital' News Room, Soaps.com keeps you up-to-date with the latest Soap Opera news on the net. We also feature interviews with the soap stars, as well as local appearances by the actors and actresses.

Michael Easton, Roger Howarth And Kristen Alderson Out At GH?

Soap Opera Digest has confirmed that Michael Easton (ex-McBain) Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) will be returning to Port Charles as their new characters starting on May 10.

Updated: March 25.

Although nothing has been made official, it is starting to sound like Michael Easton (McBain) Roger Howarth (Todd) and Kristen Alderson (Starr) will all be heading back to Port Charles, only as different characters. TV Guide is reporting that this seems to be the most likely outcome since negotiations with Prospect Park for the rights to the characters are not going well. According to TV Guide's source, "Prospect Park has been extremely difficult to deal with on this issue so 'GH' basically said, 'Screw it! We'll create all new characters!'"

Updated: March 4.

Michael Easton (John) updated his fans via his Facebook about the uncertain status of his character:

"Thank you. Your kind words of support mean the world to me. No word yet on when we might return to work but the fridge is stocked, the bills are paid, and I get to spend lots of precious time with my little girl."
Updated: February 28.

Soap Opera Digest has reported that Roger Howarth (Todd) will return to Llanview to shoot material during the show's second week of production. This means that the actor will not be contractually allowed to appear on "GH" on the same day his character airs on "OLTL" online. Find out if Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson will return to OLTL.

Updated: February 14.

According to Soap Opera Digest, it looks like Roger Howarth will join "OLTL" when it is rebooted. However, he will only play Todd Manning on the series for four weeks before returning to Port Charles.

Updated: February 4.

Prospect Park has made their position on this matter clear. They issued the following statement:

"We also understand that legions of ‘General Hospital’ fans have grown to love these actors and characters in a short time. So even though we are paying ABC millions of dollars to license the shows, we have been, and continue to be willing to equally share the characters with ‘General Hospital’ and ABC. It's a win-win for the actors, the shows and fans, who love all of the shows and storylines. We hope to work out these agreements with ABC and the actors.""

It looks like the "OLTL" invasion of Port Charles could be ending. ABC Soap In Depth has reported that Michael Easton (McBain) is now in a legal bind. According to his contract, he won't legally be allowed to play his role on "General Hospital" after February 8. This is because the character is the legal property of "One Life To Live" which is currently inching back toward production on the internet.

While Easton has made his departure public, mentioning it on his official Facebook page it appears that this will also apply to fellow former "OLTL" actors/characters Roger Howarth (Todd) and Kristen Alderson (Starr). All three characters are licensed to Prospect Park and ABC has not been able to negotiate their continuance on "GH." All three actors have shot scenes which will keep them on the air for the month of February.

Join us on Twitter @soapoperafan, and Facebook. Come tweet and Facebook with us about "General Hospital," all the other soap operas, "Dallas," "Glee," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Pretty Little Liars," "Revenge," "Vampire Diaries," and "Venice The Series."

USER COMMENTS

I wish Todd and John would stay on GH. I thought Todd and Carly made a hell of a pair, and I would have liked to see Sam and McBain together since they killed off Jason.

Posted by rcsilva at
Tuesday, May 07 2013 09:31 AM

It seems to me that it is because of the fans that soap operas are still alive, even though business tried to take them away. However, now that the soaps are saved (even if only for the moment), business is tearing them all up. I don't care which soap gets the OLTL characters, but they should remain the same. They are family, do they not understand this. If the fans, from all over, can come together, why can't ABC and HULU come together.

Posted by raylit at
Tuesday, May 21 2013 12:14 AM

Hulu has nothing to do with any of the current mess. Hulu is like YouTube a site that airs videos only. Prospect Park is in court with aBC over breach of contract that ABC abused the usage by killing off borrowed OLTL characters then they made the implication Tomas was Alcazar thus ruining his characters for both shows!! And the funny thing is everything I have read thus far, ABC does not deny these allegations any longer and they are in danger of losing the lawsuit and big money for damages!!!

As for the characters other actors on tv shows did not play the same character on two shows so why should these folks on these soaps?